Swashbuckling in the Dark

Chapter Five

I stood waiting impatiently at the designated meeting point, awaiting the arrival of its smirking designator. Raoul, Sykes and the others loitered nearby; Sykes keeping a more than usually sharp eye on me. I frowned with annoyance and boredom. Our raven-haired captain was an hour late. The sun was low on the horizon.

I muttered strings of insults under my breath, hoping the wind would pick them up and somehow carry them straight to him. "Where is that womanizing, irritating, smirking, idiotic—"

The crowd in the market had thinned, and the shopkeepers standing at the stalls lining the street were getting ready to close up for the night. When the buildings around us were bathed in the orange-red glow from the setting sun, Raoul suggested that Sykes go look for him.

Even Sykes was noticeably bothered by the captain's absence. He shifted his weight a little too often, one hand idly stroking the hilt of his sword underneath his cloak, his eyes searching constantly.

"We'll hear him before we see 'im" noted Ryan, one of the crew members, making the others laugh in agreement.

"Probably just got held up at a tavern someplace," Keith suggested with a grin.

More guesses at Dark's whereabouts were made; the most prominent being that he'd drunk himself silly, found the pleasurable company of a woman and forgotten all about us. When the lewd comments passed inevitably onto me, I clenched my jaw and tried to ignore them.

"Nay, lads," Ryan said, casting me a crooked grin. "Why should our cap'n seek a lass's company ashore when he has such a fine one onboard!?"

The men burst into hoots of laughter and Ryan winked at me, giving my behind a well-aimed smack. I whirled on him, raising my hand to strike him. Dark's over-protectiveness, Sykes and Raoul tailing me all day, and the answers to the questions I'd been unable to wrestle from Sykes had put me in a foul mood. Ryan and the others taunting me had been the last straw.

As I turned to hit Ryan, the others catcalled, hoping for a fight. Sykes caught my wrist though, and now held it tightly as I struggled to exact my revenge on a bewildered Ryan. My wrist was starting to hurt from his fingers. The rest of the crew were shouting at Sykes to release me so Ryan and I could settle it between us. They were causing quite a commotion and the few remaining locals were starting to stare in curiosity.

"Sykes?"

The entire group froze and turned towards the sound of the captain's voice. He stood in the middle of the street, obviously confused at the sight of us. Next to him was a redheaded woman dressed in ripped, dirty, and rather indecent clothes. Her hands were bound in front of her with rope, the end of which was held tightly in Dark's fist. 

By the size of the holes her eyes were burning into the back of Dark's head, she wasn't happy with him.

Sykes released my wrist and took a couple of steps towards his captain. "Took ye long enough," he scolded. He jerked his head in the woman's direction. "Who's this...and why are her hands bound?"

Dark looked over his shoulder at the red-haired woman. She glared back. "Things got a little rough," he replied, laughing when Sykes raised an eyebrow.

The rest of the men laughed with Dark until the woman turned her ferocious gaze on them, shutting them up effectively.

"This here is Tallera," Dark explained. "She's an old...friend of mine."

"Uh huh," Sykes grunted, unconvinced.

He closed the distance between himself and Dark, grabbing the younger man by the collar and hoisting him into the air to look him in the face. Now on eye level with Sykes, the tallest man I'd ever met, Dark met Sykes' anger with pure shock that he had dared to demean his captain in such a way.